Quina Quen In: The Search for the Platinum Platter
by Awesome Oppossum
Summary: Quina and co. search the world for the ancient Qu artifact, the Platinum Platter. R/R and find out if they're successful! A definite treat for Quina lovers!
1. Gizamaluke's Grotto

THE SEARCH FOR THE GOLDEN PLATTER, STARRING QUINA ****

Quina Quen Starring In: The Platinum Platter!

Quina proves that even gluttons can have hearts bigger than their appetites.

Quina sighed deeply and turned onto her back. It was almost impossible to sleep on these makeshift tents that Zidane and his party carried around, she decided. The party of 8 was camping out with the Moogle Family in Gizamaluke's Grotto, in order to be close to the Grand Dragons on the plateau. She thought about her Qu heritage and roots, and recalled legends that Quale had told her when she was a child. Among these legends was the Platinum Platter. She had forgotten almost everything about this legend but its name. Would it be possible to find this ancient platter? She would ask Zidane about it in the morning…but right now, she had to worry about casting a Night spell to force her self to sleep.

The next morning, Zidane was first to wake up. He woke all of the others up, except for Quina, who was out cold, and a heavy sleeper in the first place. 

"Quina, wake up! You're the only one still asleep!" Said Zidane, full of enthusiasm.

"…Huh? Why you wake me, Zidane! Me having good dream about food!"

"Quina, you're _always_ dreaming about food. Now get up!"

Quina rose from sleep her sleep and wiped the morning dust from her eyes. She looked around to see the others getting ready for travel. She then spotted Zidane, polishing his Ultima Weapon. She slowly approached him like a toddler about to ask his mother something that he knew she would refuse.

"Uh, Zidane? I ask you question?" she inquired.

"Sure, Quina! What's on your mind?"

"Um…there this Qu thing I hear about when I very young from Quale, called Platinum Platter…"

"Oh, I've heard about it! Hmm, let me guess. You want to find it?"

"Yup…" said Quina.

"Well…since you've helped me so much with my quests…we can go on yours now."

"Really? You no kidding? Thank you, Zidane! I give you big hug!" cried Quina.

With that, she grabbed Zidane in a bear hug and lifted him off of his feet. After suspending him in the air for several moments, she dropped him and ran off to tell the others.

"Um…You're welcome?" said Zidane, still confused as to what had just happened.

A few moments later, Quina had Zidane, Dagger, Vivi, Steiner, Freya, Eiko, and Amarant all lined up in a row as she paced back and forth in front of them like a war general addressing his troops. She began to explain their newest quest to her friends.

"We all go on new treasure hunt! You under my control until Zidane say so!" she started.

"I don't think I fell safe in Quina's hands," whispered Amarant to Freya.

"Oh, hush, Amarant! Quina's much smarter than many give her credit for!" she replied, quickly jabbing him in the side.

"We look for thing called Platinum Platter. We start hunt at Master's house. That all. Questions?"

"That didn't take long…" commented Eiko.

"Me like to keep things short and sweet…like candy…Mmm…" Quina's eyes glazed as she though about food for the zillionth time in her life span.

"Um, yes, I have a question." Said Steiner, slowly raising his arm.

"…Huh? What you want, Rusty?" she snapped.

Zidane stifled a chuckle upon seeing Quina repeat what she had heard from him. Steiner shot a dagger at him and looked back at Quina.

"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted by that thief…I have a question. What _is_ this Platinum Platter you speak of?"

"Well that what we go to Master's house for!

"Makes sense…" said Vivi quietly.

"Ok, more questions?" asked Quina. She was rewarded by a blank stare from all. "Good. We ready, then! Into big flying eye!"

The party of 8 stepped into the Invincible as Zidane stepped onto the pilot's spot.

"Qu's Marsh, here we come!"


	2. Quale's Shack

The trip was definetly a short one from Gizamaluke's Grotto to Qu's Marsh

The trip was definetly a short one from Gizamaluke's Grotto to Qu's Marsh. Quina and the gang stepped out of the Invincible after Zidane had landed it. Quina wasted no time, dashing straight towards the depths of the marsh. All that the rest of them could do was follow behind her. They ran passed Moggy and his brother without saying a word, except for Eiko, the last runner in the group, who greeted the two moogles with a slight nod.

Quina ran through the long grass with no trouble at all, Zidane and co. had to fight to keep up and keep from being lost. After they emerged from the grass, Quina slowed her pace and looked longingly at the numerous frogs hopping around. 

"No…Gotta keep moving! I no catch frog today."

The others could hardly believe what they had just seen.

"Did you see that? Quina just passed up the opportunity to catch frogs!" Said Vivi.

"She must be _very_ determined!" replied Dagger.

Shortly afterwards they were in front of Quale's shack. Quina knocked on the door three times.

"Quale, open door! Quina here!"

After several moments an irritated Quale opened the door.

"Yeah, what you want? Another Gastro fork?" He snapped.

"No, want to learn something!"

"Oh, okay! Get in house! Leave friends outside, no room!"

They stood frozen in their spot as Quina said "Sorry, guys! Me no take long". She then shut the door behind her and approached Quale.

"Ok, Quina, what you want to know?" asked Quale, sitting on a stump he used as a stool.

"Me wanna know 'bout Platinum Platter! What you used to say to me?"

"Platinum Platter? That just story, Quina, you old enough to know now."

"Well, tell me story then!"

"Ok, fine, but don't know why…"

Quale rose from his makeshift seat and found a book of legends in a rickety bookshelf. He flipped through a few pages, repeating the words Platinum Platter over and over until he had found what he was looking for.

"Ah! Here it is. Wow, this one real short!

****

The Platinum Platter is said to be a Fountain of Youth of sorts. Many people claim that this ancient Qu artifact is long gone, or that it never existed in the first place. All that expert archeologists know is that this relic would have been found somewhere in the continent of Mist, near a place where other such artifacts have been excavated.

Below the text was a map of Mist with a circle indicating the general area where Qu relics were found.

"Oooohh…Thanks much, Quale! We borrow book?"

"sigh If something happen to it…"

"Me take good care of Quale's book!" Quina said excitedly 

She then ran out the house, slamming the door a little TOO hard on the way, knocking it off of it's hinges.

"Oh, that Quina…" said Quale in an exasperated tone. "Me hope her buddies take good care of her

When Quina got outside, the others stopped talking amongst themselves to see what she had to say.

"What's the story, Quin?" asked Zidane.

"Me learn lots! Look at book!"

Zidane accepted the book and read the passage aloud. "Quina this isn't a lot of information to go by…" he then passed the book around for the others to see the map.

"But we still look, right?" Zidane wanted to say no to Quina, but the look in her expression made him refuse to decline her.

"Yeah, Quina, we'll try…"

"Kay, good!"

"Um…Chocobo's Forest is in this circle…maybe we could go there?" offered Vivi.

"Oh, excellent suggestion, Master Vivi!" said Steiner, grinning from ear to ear.

"Um…Yeah, what he said." Replied Freya, raising an eyebrow at Steiner.

"Ok, then, it's off to Chocobo's Forest, then!" Said Zidane, Picking up a small pack of supplies he had brought with him. "I haven't seen Choco in a while, anyways."


	3. Chocobo's Forest

The band of heroes braced themselves as they landed outside of Chocobo's Forest rather abruptly

The band of heroes braced themselves as they landed outside of Chocobo's Forest rather abruptly. 

"You would think with all the technology put into this stupid ship that it'd land a little smoother…" grumbled Amarant to himself as they stepped out of the aircraft.

"Okay, let's go in and talk to Mene first. Maybe he'll have something to say about it," said Zidane, looking back and talking to his friends as he walked.

"Sound good to me!" said Quina, running past him and into the forest.

"Quina, wait! Choco doesn't"

Zidane was interrupted by an earsplitting "KWWEEEEEHH!!!" 

"…know…you." Zidane finished feebly to himself. After this he went running to see what had happened.

"Wh…Who ARE you, kupo?!" Zidane heard Mene say from a distance. He reached the heart of the forest shortly enough to see the back of Quina blocking his view.

"Me just save you and big birdy! You be more thankful!"

"What's going on here, Quina?" Zidane asked as the 6 others appeared behind him.

"Me see big mean bug here, so me stab with fork and eat! Taste bad, though…"

Choco cautiously appeared from his hiding place behind a mini plateau and saw Quina for the first time. 

"Kheh?" He said in a questionitive tone. He then immediately strode over to Quina and nuzzled up against her without any notice at all. "K-k-kweeeeh!" He said, his voice full of content.

"I thought Choco only liked me…" said a puzzled Zidane. "Quina, he hadn't seen you before right now, had he?"

Quina was now stroking Choco's long neck. "No, Zidane, we just meet now. Yeees, you good birdy, huh?"

Aaaw, What a cute Chocobo! I wanna pet it!" squealed Eiko, running towards Choco. At this, he eyed the eager young girl and swiftly flew on top of a ledge.

"…Hey! I just wanted to pet ya, stupid bird!" With that, Eiko stomped back over to Vivi to complain.

After this ordeal, Choco promptly flew down next to Quina, who began patting him on the back. 

"…Ohh, kupo! I think I understand! Would that happen to be a Qu?" said Mene, flying over to Zidane.

"Yes, that's Quina, and she is a Qu." Said Zidane. "But what difference does that make?" 

"Quite a bit of difference, kupo! You see, back in the early days, Chocobos were very loyal companions of Qus. They were actually the ones to first tame Chocobos, if I understand correctly, kupo. And, legend has it that they were the ones who painted the Chocographs and planted them all around the world! Kupo, maybe Chocobos still have an affection for their former friends deep inside of their hearts, kupo kupo!"

"Wow! I guess that would explain that…" said Dagger. 

"Yeah, no kidding! That will make things a lot easier, I'm sure!" said Freya.

"Hm? What do you mean by "things", kupo?" asked Mene.

"Oh!" Quina stopped petting Choco for a moment to explain to Mene their quest. "We look for Platinum Platter. Where is it?" Quina said. She then lost intrest in Mene once again and started patting Choco on the beak.

"Uh…yeah, basically, what she said. Oh, and this, too." Zidane handed Mene the book with the text and the map.

"Hmmm…interesting, kupo!" He said after a moment of inspection. He then placed his right elbow in his left paw, and his head on his left fist as he pondered. Everyone else did the same, save for Quina, who was petting Choco, and Choco, who was too busy being pet to care about anything.

Vivi was the one who finally broke the silence. "You said that Qus and Chocobos go back a long way?"

"It's pretty likely, kupo."

There was another brief pause.

"Perhaps…if we check all of our Chocographs very closely…" said Dagger hesitantly.

There was a collective mass of "Oh, yeah!"s and "Good idea!"s from everyone but Quina, Choco, and Amarant, who hadn't been listening to anything anyone was saying. Zidane went over to Choco, who didn't even notice, and removed all of the Chocographs from his small pouch.

"Ok, Quina, it's time to say goodbye to Choco…" said Zidane, beckoning to Quina.

"Awww, Zidane, Me no wanna say bye-bye to Choco!" she said.

"Kweh, kwehkhew kweeeeh!" agreed the Chocobo.

Quina sighed and reluctantly seized petting and stroking Choco. "Bye-bye, new friend! Me come visit later!" she said as she turned and slouched away.

"Kweh-Kheeh!" the bird called after her.

The others followed Quina out, Zidane being last.

"See ya, Mene, and thanks for your help. Take good care of Choco for Quina and I, Okay?" He said as he walked down the trail.

"No problem. Bye, kupo!"


	4. The Invincible

The group sat in a circle on the main deck of the Invincible

The group sat in a circle on the main deck of the Invincible. Zidane looked at all the Chocographs and set them in numerical order. Everyone was talking amongst themselves except for Quina and Zidane, who merely stared at the stones. Zidane had become quite interested in his newest journey as they had found more clues. Finally, Zidane quieted the crowd and spoke. 

"Okay, guys, since there's 24 Chocographs, we'll all be getting 3 to inspect." He looked around the room to see a few people start to talk but he cut them off. "Yes, I know only 11 of them indicate places in Mist, but I believe that we should probably just inspect them all, anyway. Hey, with the 8 of us, how long can it take?"

There were a few nods of approval as Zidane stood up and started passing out the stones. He passed them out 3 by 3 until he was left with the remaining Chocographs. There was momentarily little sound as the party sat around inspecting each stone with care. Finally, Amarant broke the silence.

"There's nothin' on mine. You're not _really _expecting to find anything, are you?"

"Sorry, but I don't see anything…" said Vivi, placing the stones down gently.

Aw, man! I couldn't find anything either! I wanted to be the one to find it…" whimpered Eiko sadly.

"Mine have nothing on them as far as I can see," said Freya shaking her head.

"I found nothing, but I'll keep trying if you'd like," said Dagger.

"I have checked mine twice and found nothing," said Steiner.

"Well, I don't see anything, either…" sighed Zidane.

Everyone in the room turned their head to Quina simultaneously. 

"……" There was an uncomfortable pause. "…Me find something!" Ahahahahah! Yaay!" Quina then got up and started jumping around the room, practically shaking the ship."

The rest of the group sat staring at Quina, waiting for her to finish her triumphant dance. When Quina had finally sat down, panting from exhaustion, Zidane asked, "Are you done?"

"Me done." 

"WELL WHAT DID YOU FIND?!" 

"Um…Me lost it."

Zidane slowly buried his head in his hands while the others chuckled. Quina inspected the stone once more. "Ah! Found it again. You wanna know what it say, Zidane?"

"Yes, Quina, please tell us all what the stone says." He replied in a muffled voice due to the fact that he still had his face in his hands.

"Colored stone 13 have real small emblem of Qu race."

Zidane snapped his head up and looked at Quina. "You're kidding me! What's the name of the Chocograph?"

"Forbidden Forest," she replied. "Have picture of lotsa trees with big mountain all around."

"I remember that one! And it's not too far away, either!" Zidane jumped up and onto the pilot's pad and started to head towards the location of Chocograph 13.

"This is getting pretty exciting! I hope we find the golden plate!" said Steiner.

"Platinum Platter," corrected Freya. "and I agree. But the question is…is there even such a thing?"

"I hope so," said Amarant.

Eiko looked at Amarant in surprise. "What is that, Amarant? Do you mean to say that you're actually interested in this?"

"No," he replied. "I just thing it'd be a huge waste of my time if it wasn't."


	5. The Forbidden Forest

"This is impossible!" whined Eiko, dropping to her knees. "We've searched these dumb woods a billion times and there's nothing here!"

"I'm starting to feel the same way, Eiko…" said Dagger, wiping sweat off of her brow. "I wonder how the others are doing with their searches?"

In the distance, Zidane's voice could be heard saying, "This is driving me insane!!" as many birds flew from their nests in the trees.

"Not very well, I take it," giggled Eiko.

Dagger chuckled politely and nodded her head.

Freya walked through the dense forest, followed by Steiner, sweating heavily in his full metal armor.

"Perhaps…there is…nothing…here." panted Steiner, breathing roughly in between words.

"I'm starting to think the same thing, Steiner…but we can't give up just yet."

"Yes, I suppose you're correct. But first I think we should take a br-Oof!!"

Steiner's request was abruptly halted as he fell flat on his chest with no warning at all. Freya spun her head around to see that Steiner had tripped over a small stump with an engraving scratched into it.

"Steiner, I think you may have found what we're looking for!" Freya ran over to the fallen man and helped him up off of the ground.

"Well, um…yes, of course I have! A true knight such as myself always carries out his-"

"Steiner, please," said Freya, smiling slightly and rolling her eyes. She then looked back at the emblem on the stump. "I believe this might be the Qu symbol that Quina found on the chocograph! But what shall we do now?"

Steiner slowly touched it with the tip of his sword and quickly drew it back. After this failed to do anything, he touched it with his toe, then stood on it. When this had no effect, he began bouncing on it, then jumping, then stomping. "Nothing." he said sadly.

Freya then ran a few small tests of her own. "Th best we can do right now is call the others here, I suppose.

The two then began calling out the other's names. Zidane was the first to come. "You've found something, haven't you? Ooh, let me see! That's the symbol! This has to be it!" he then started going on and on about how they would all be rich and famous until the rest had finally arrived.

Quina made her way past the others to the stump and inspected it. "Yes, this Qu symbol. What we do to it?"

"We've tried everything, from standing on it to talking to it." explained Steiner.

"Hmmm…" said Quina, a perplexed expression sweeping her face. "I no think of anything…" she then lowed herself slowly onto the stump, still thinking of what to do.

What happened next was something that none of them would believe had ever happened. The moon, which was slowly rising in the first place, came up abruptly over their heads. After it was there, the sun quickly appeared behind it. A full eclipse occurred, and a black light engulfed Quina and the stump. The ray lifted Quina from the stump, which slowly started spinning. As the stump spun, it gradually got bigger. Suddenly, an impulse was sent to everyone's brains, giving them the urge to stand on the stump. Quina was lowered back down onto the middle of the stump. As she hit the stump, it began to lower into the ground, carrying the bewildered party with it. After they had been lowered enough, the stump did a full flip, making the occupants of it slip and fall off. The stump then started toward the surface again, trapping them in the underground lair. 


	6. The Forbidden Forest

"This is impossible!" whined Eiko, dropping to her knees. "We've searched these dumb woods a billion times and there's nothing here!"

"I'm starting to feel the same way, Eiko…" said Dagger, wiping sweat off of her brow. "I wonder how the others are doing with their searches?"

In the distance, Zidane's voice could be heard saying, "This is driving me insane!!" as many birds flew from their nests in the trees.

"Not very well, I take it," giggled Eiko.

Dagger chuckled politely and nodded her head.

Freya walked through the dense forest, followed by Steiner, sweating heavily in his full metal armor.

"Perhaps…there is…nothing…here." panted Steiner, breathing roughly in between words.

"I'm starting to think the same thing, Steiner…but we can't give up just yet."

"Yes, I suppose you're correct. But first I think we should take a br-Oof!!"

Steiner's request was abruptly halted as he fell flat on his chest with no warning at all. Freya spun her head around to see that Steiner had tripped over a small stump with an engraving scratched into it.

"Steiner, I think you may have found what we're looking for!" Freya ran over to the fallen man and helped him up off of the ground.

"Well, um…yes, of course I have! A true knight such as myself always carries out his-"

"Steiner, please," said Freya, smiling slightly and rolling her eyes. She then looked back at the emblem on the stump. "I believe this might be the Qu symbol that Quina found on the chocograph! But what shall we do now?"

Steiner slowly touched it with the tip of his sword and quickly drew it back. After this failed to do anything, he touched it with his toe, then stood on it. When this had no effect, he began bouncing on it, then jumping, then stomping. "Nothing." he said sadly.

Freya then ran a few small tests of her own. "Th best we can do right now is call the others here, I suppose.

The two then began calling out the other's names. Zidane was the first to come. "You've found something, haven't you? Ooh, let me see! That's the symbol! This has to be it!" he then started going on and on about how they would all be rich and famous until the rest had finally arrived.

Quina made her way past the others to the stump and inspected it. "Yes, this Qu symbol. What we do to it?"

"We've tried everything, from standing on it to talking to it." explained Steiner.

"Hmmm…" said Quina, a perplexed expression sweeping her face. "I no think of anything…" she then lowed herself slowly onto the stump, still thinking of what to do.

What happened next was something that none of them would believe had ever happened. The moon, which was slowly rising in the first place, came up abruptly over their heads. After it was there, the sun quickly appeared behind it. A full eclipse occurred, and a black light engulfed Quina and the stump. The ray lifted Quina from the stump, which slowly started spinning. As the stump spun, it gradually got bigger. Suddenly, an impulse was sent to everyone's brains, giving them the urge to stand on the stump. Quina was lowered back down onto the middle of the stump. As she hit the stump, it began to lower into the ground, carrying the bewildered party with it. After they had been lowered enough, the stump did a full flip, making the occupants of it slip and fall off. The stump then started toward the surface again, trapping them in the underground lair. 


End file.
